YOUR HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER SINCE 1978 w w w. j a m e s t o w n n e w s . c o m
weekly edition
Dec. 31 - Jan. 6, 2026 Vol 48 No 1 | 1 Section | 8 Pages
Road widening, curbing project changed town’s look By CAROL BROOKS freelance writer cab1hp@gmail.com Nearly 30 years ago Jamestown’s Main Street Improvement Project changed the landscape of the town, especially downtown. Crews from Larco Construction of Winston-Salem began work in mid-December 1996 on widening the street from Wade Street to Teague Avenue. Each new traffic lane increased to 12 feet wide. New curbs and gutters were added along with a storm drainage sys-
tem. Curbing was first installed in the late 1940s. According to the March 19, 1997, Jamestown News, the project cost $1.2 million, paid for by the state. The Town of Jamestown paid for the brick sidewalks. Two of the three major intersections in town were changed, with the most drastic change being the alignment of Ragsdale and Dillon roads. Motorists at the time had a zigzag trip to cross Main Street in front of the library. For safety, the Town added a traffic light. The entrance to the library was moved
Compiled By Norma B. Dennis Medical treatments don’t take a holiday The American Red Cross urges donors to make an appointment to give blood or platelets now to keep the blood supply as strong as possible in the final days of the year and into 2026. Types O, A negative and B negative blood donors are especially needed now. Record-setting travel is happening across the country. With more people headed away from home, blood and platelet donations can dip at a crucial time when patients count on care. Bad weather or shifting travel schedules could force donors to cancel or reschedule donation appointments and tighten the blood supply. Make time to give before you go — it’s a simple way to make a lifesaving impact. Give hope during the holidays and schedule a blood or platelet donation appointment by using the Red Cross Blood Donor app, visiting RedCrossBlood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). If you’re unable to give blood or platelet, consider making a financial donation to support our lifesaving mission at redcross.org. Have an event that you think needs to be included in About Town? Email Norma B. Dennis at ndworddesign@gmail.com or Carol Brooks at cab1hp@gmail.com
further up Ragsdale Road from the original location. “There’s been a demand for a stoplight at that intersection for years,” Town Manager John Frezell told the Jamestown News in 1997. “During busy times it is impossible to make a left turn on to Main Street from Dillon. A stoplight will eliminate that problem.” Additionally, the intersection of Main Street and Guilford Road changed. Previously, motorists This 1995 file photo from the Jamestown News shows traffic islands at the intersection of East Main Street and Guilford see road, page 2 Road. Town Hall is on the left.
Ragsdale High School has girls wrestling team
By NORMA B. DENNIS FREELANCE WRITER ndworddesign@gmail.com
Issac Tahirkheli understands wrestling. He is only in his second year as head coach of the wrestling program at Ragsdale High School, but he wrestled for that same program at Ragsdale from 2014-2018. When he saw the possibility of wrestling collapsing at the school, he stepped up to coach the team, which this year includes not only a boys’ team but a girls’ team as well. “There was no girls’ team when I wrestled,” Tahirkheli said. “Two or three would train and tried wrestling with the guys in matches, but it was rare. It was unusual for girls to participate all four years.” Times are changing. The popularity of girls wrestling is growing and girls are beginning to have their own wrestling teams. Each one must include at least seven people to be official. Last year was the first time that schools began to have separate teams for boys and
Photo by Norma B. Dennis
(Above) Coach Issac Tahirkheli would like to see girls’ wrestling expand to other high schools. Photos submitted
(Top left) Girls stay focused as they begin a match. (At left) Wrestling can be intense as each opponent struggles for a favorable position to earn the win.
see team, page 2
12 days of Christmas are now By CAROL BROOKS freelance writer cab1hp@gmail.com
Graphic courtesy clipground.com
The Scottish song “The 13 Days of Yule” expands the number of days of Christmas and mentions a king sending partridges, geese, ducks, swans, etc. to his lady. This song is from the early 1800s. Yule was originally a heathen feast that lasted for 12-13 days. Eventually it came to represent the midwinter season of December and January, later becoming synonymous with Christmas. Some believe the song represents a catechism English Catholic youth had to memorize, but this theory just came to be within the last 60 years or so. It is possible the poem/song began as a memory game during 12th Night, or the evening before Jan. 6. After players formed a circle, the leader would recite a verse and each person would repeat it. Then the leader would add another verse, speaking faster. This was repeated until a mistake was made by one of
the players, who would have to drop out of the game – or maybe offer a kiss or a sweet. The last player, other than the leader, was the winner. If you are up to it, try singing the last verse with one breath. By the way, the total cost of those 364 gifts over 12 days in 2025 is $218,542.98, according to PNC Bank, which has been tracking the price of the gifts listed in the song since 1984. If you did not repeat a gift, it would still cost a hefty $51,476.12 this year.
Where you went to get your mail — and books Source of the photos is unknown
(Above) An early version of the U.S. Post Office is believed to be around where Kindred Coffee is located now.
(At left) The photo from 1914 shows what is probably the interior of this post office which also housed a book deposit, probably an early version of the library. The people in the photo are unidentified.
What the 12 gifts may stand for One popular thought is that the list of gifts listed in the song was actually a sort of “code” passed along during a time when Christians were punished for worshiping in the open. Although this theory is up to debate regarding historical accuracy, it is see day, page 2
Everyone likes good news and the Jamestown News wants to print a column focused on sharing good things seen happening in the community. To make the column work, you need to participate. Email ndworddesign@gmail.com with your observations of a person or group being helpful to others. Norma Dennis will print them on the fourth Wednesday of each month.
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We all know the words of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” even though we may not remember how many lords are leaping or ladies dancing. But what many of us do not realize is that the 12 days do not lead up to Dec. 25 but rather begin Dec. 25 and end Jan. 5, which is known as Epiphany, or the day the Magi visited Jesus. It is also the end of Christmas celebrations. According to the “Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes,” the earliest printed version of this poem dates back to 1780 in the book “Mirth Without Mischief.” In that version, it was an English chant or a poem. It was not set to music but written in a form called cumulative verse. Other researchers believe the poem is older than 1780, beginning in France. The tune we know today as “The 12 Days of Christmas” was composed around 1909 by Frederic Austin, who changed some of the poem’s lyrics. (You can blame him for the “f-i-i-i-ve golden rings.” According to an article in Good Housekeeping in 2024, the original lyrics list “four colly birds,” instead of “four calling birds.” Colly” was an old English slang term for a blackbird. In addition, instead of a partridge sitting in that pear tree, the original list included a “very pretty peacock upon a pear tree.”